Case Study Analysis of Sustainability Reporting of an Agri-Food Giant

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F04274644%3A_____%2F20%3A%230000627" target="_blank" >RIV/04274644:_____/20:#0000627 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/26482789:_____/20:N0000054

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4491/htm" target="_blank" >https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4491/htm</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12114491" target="_blank" >10.3390/su12114491</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Case Study Analysis of Sustainability Reporting of an Agri-Food Giant

Original language description

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion of how large companies in the agri-food sector cope with the growing pressure to perform sustainably and how they disclose sustainability-related information to their stakeholders. To achieve this goal we use the case study method. We analyse the specific approach to sustainability reporting of Cargill, a company with more than 150-years long history and with worldwide activities. We used reports from the year 2014 and 2018. The core of our analysis lies in the content analysis of the text using 39 CSR keywords (Cohen, 2010). The frequency of keywords related to the three aspects of corporate social responsibility was measured to reveal the areas that the company considers most important and those upon which it draws the attention of users. To complement this analysis, we then investigated the linguistic features of Cargill’s sustainability reports employing the programme LIWC2015 and focusing on four features of the disclosure (analytical thinking, clout, authenticity, and emotional tone). The findings of our research confirm that the dominant companies in the agri-food business have reacted to challenges of their social environment and changed their attitude to keep up with the current stage of social development. Sustainability reporting is elaborated and covering all aspects of the company’s activity in sufficient detail. This attitude developed continuously despite it is not always appreciated by all Cargill’s stakeholders. The main limitation of our study lies in the method which did not allow even with the greatest effort to eliminate subjectivity. The other limitation relates to the specific features of the company and its position within the world economy and also to its long history which determined the form and extent of reporting. However, our findings are indicative and inspiring for future research. Our results contribute to the debate concerning the form, content and evolution of sustainability reporting. Moreover, our results can be used in practice by corporate management, when designing their marketing strategy, plans and programs. We claim that the biggest challenge for big multinationals like Cargill in these days is to effectively protect the nature and respect the law in jurisdictions where there is traditionally low incentive to obey the rules because of poor regulations and many opportunities to misuse their dominant position

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50204 - Business and management

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2020

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Sustainability

ISSN

2071-1050

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

12(11)

Issue of the periodical within the volume

11

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

22

Pages from-to

4491-4512

UT code for WoS article

000543391800154

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85086131264